God Bless America

I want us to recite the pledge of allegiance together:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Don’t you love this country? I do. To me, it is the greatest country on the face of the earth. It is indeed a blessed nation.

Obviously, many folks feel this way about America. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Control, more than a million people come into the United States legally every day. On top of this, an estimated half million illegal immigrants make their way to the United States each year.

Why do the people come? Actually, people migrate here for a good number of reasons:

• In spite of the recession, America still offers unparalleled economic opportunities. There is the tug of the American dream.
• Others come to take advantage of our educational system. Many of these people end up staying.
• Freedom of religion is a factor. Religious persecution is still a big problem in many parts of the world.
• Others make their way to our shores in an effort to escape some oppressive political dictator.
• Many come here to be with family.

The bottom line? America is still seen as the home of the brave and the land of the free.
But pastor, America has some very serious problems. I know. I will cover some of them a little later on in this sermon. However, would you rather live here or in…

•  China?
• India?
• Japan?
• France?
• Greece?
• Egypt?
• Israel?
• Mexico?

Those are great countries, however, if I had my choice, I would take our problems over their problems any day. In many respects, we remain the envy of the world.

Having said all of that, I do think that America is slipping a bit. Today, I want to take a few minutes and share six things that I feel can help get us back on track.

REALIZE, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
I have here a quote from Chuck Colson. He recently shared this in one of his newsletters. It is the inscription on a church in England:

In the year 1653, when all things
sacred in the kingdom
Were either profaned or demolished,
This church was built . . .
To do the best of things in the worst of times.

Evidently, England was experiencing some problems at the time that this particular church was built. Certainly, faith was under fire. In spite of the darkness that surrounded the church, the leaders of the fellowship knew that their church was called “to do the best of things in the worst of times.” Such a challenge is still relevant today.
Matthew 5:13-14 tells us, “You are the salt of the earth. … You are the light of the world…..” Again, Jesus is saying that the church – that is you and me – has the power to make a difference.

As Edmund Burke explained: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. The church was placed on earth to do something!

ONE THING THAT WE CAN DO IS ELECT GODLY MEN AND WOMEN TO OFFICE
Listen to these quotes:

• President James Garfield: “Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.”
• John Jay, America’s first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, once advised: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers. It is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
• Founding father Noah Webster delivered a similar admonition: “ Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and placeunprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.”

Webster based his arguments on Exodus 18:21, “But select capable men from all the people–men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain–and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.” The passage makes a very important point. God is saying that leaders of govern-ment are to be capable, fear God, and be trustworthy. In other words, in the eyes of God, character matters. Honesty matters. Morality matters. Competency matters.

Then too, this rule applies to every level of government including those who are…

• Leaders of tens (local),
• Leaders of fifties (county),
• Leaders of hundreds (state), or
• Leaders of thousands”(federal).

If you think about this, it makes all the sense in the world. You see, nearly every current leader of thousands was at one time a leader of tens; that is, many low-level local offices have been starting points for prominent national careers.

David Barton Founder and President of WallBuilders, best-selling author, and according to Time Magazine, one of America’s 25 most influential evangelicals, says: “It was the plan and intent of the Founders that the Godly, and thereby Godly principles, remain intimately involved in the political, judicial, and educational realms. The Founders believed that only the Godly would understand the unalienable freedoms provided by God and thus protect them in our form of government; and they never intended that Christian principles be divorced from public affairs.”

Let me give you an example of what happens when the ungodly rule. According to data collected by Dick Simpson, a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, more than 1,000 public officials and business people from Illinois have been convicted in federal corruption cases since 1971. Of those, an astonishing 30 were Chicago aldermen; that’s around 20 percent of those elected to the City Council during that period. If former governor Blagojevich ultimately goes to prison, he will become the fourth out of the last eight governors to wear stripes, joining predecessors George Ryan (racketeering, conspiracy, obstruction), Dan Walker (bank fraud), and Otto Kerner (bribery). If he gets assigned to the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, Blagojevich could become the first governor to share a cell with a predecessor. (Article in Slate — Political Corruption Smackdown Which state is the most crooked—Illinois or Louisiana? By Jacob Weisberg)

The classic Illinois crook was the Paul Powell, who served as secretary of state in the 1960s. When Powell died, his executor found shoeboxes filled with $800,000 in cash (along with 49 cases of whiskey and two cases of creamed corn) in the Springfield hotel room where he lived. The money had been collected in $5 and $10 increments from applicants who wanted to make sure they passed their driving tests.

One has to wonder, how many people who claimed to know God voted for these individuals?

Saints, it is not enough to know about a candidate’s professional qualifications or his/her party affiliation. Again, we also need to know something of his or her character. Therefore, I want to urge you to:

• Read. Do some research before you go to the polling booth.
• Look at voter’s guides.
• The newspaper has a regular column that lists the voting record of each of our national office-holders. Look at the column and examine how he or she votes on issues that are close to your heart.
• Write and ask a candidate where he or she stands on such issues as:

1. The relationship between God and government. If he or she is believes that God and faith have no place in government, then I believe that that candidate has no place in office.
2. His/her view on abortion. As I have said before, I refuse to vote for anyone who is pro-abortion. (By the way, this is not a party issue. West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson and Pennsylvania’s Robert Casey, Jr. are all Democratic senators who are opposed to abortion. Former Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania and pro-life hero Robert Casey Sr. described the Democratic Party’s embrace of legalized abortion as, “…wrong in principle and out of the mainstream of our party’s historic commitment to protecting the powerless.” On the other hand, there are about a dozen Republican members of the House of Representatives who are pro-abortion.)
3. His/her view on marriage. The Bible clearly teaches that marriage is a unionbetween one man and one woman. If a candidate believes otherwise, that will certainly influence my vote.

When you examine a candidate, realize that it is not vital that you agree on every specific point. The determining factor is, do we agree on the moral essentials?

As former Georgia Senator, Zell Miller writes: “It’s not who’s team you’re on, its whose side you’re on.” Miller’s point is critically important. There are some good Christian leaders on both sides of the isle. Benjamin Rush, a member of the Continental Congress, had the attitude we should be looking for in our legislators: “I have alternately been called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.”

Be a Christocrat. Vote for those who share your Christian values regardless of their party.

VOTE
While this is a real no-brainer, I still want to park here for a moment.

Both major political parties, the pro-life and pro-abortion camps, the greens, the liberals, the conservatives, the tea partiers, the libertarians and who knows who else will spend literally millions of dollars in get-out-the-vote drives next year. Each of those groups understand the power of a single vote.

“But, pastor, what difference can one individual vote make?” The fact is, one vote can make a great difference:

• In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England
• In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of German
• In 1800, one vote in the electoral college made Thomas Jefferson President over Aaron Burr.
• In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union.
• In 1846, one vote resulted in America going to war with Mexico.
• In 1867, one vote decided on the purchase of the Alaskan territory.
•  In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
• In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic.
• In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency of the United States.
• In 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler leadership of the Nazi party.
• In 1941, one vote saved the Selective Service System just 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor
• In 2000, just 237 votes in Florida resulted in the election of George W. Bush to the Presidency.

One vote can make a world of difference.

According to the Vermont Secretary of State Web site, in 1844, Freeman Clark, a farmer, was seriously ill and needed his son carry him to the polls to vote for Indiana senatorial candidate, David Kelso. The farmer died shortly after Kelso was elected by one vote. Later that year, the Indiana Senate elected Edward Hannigan for U.S. Senate by one vote, which was cast by Kelso. Nearly one year later, another one-vote margin made Texas the 28th state. The vote was cast by U.S. Senator Hannigan, who was elected by the one vote of Indiana Senator Kelso, who in turn was elected by Clark’s one vote.

You are godly people. You are wise people. Even if we do not agree on each and every issue or candidate, I still encourage you to cast your ballot in each and every election. Vote.

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Let me ask you a personal question. How many of you have pretty strong feelings about Governor Walker’s budget? You are strongly in favor or strongly opposed. Let me see your hands. Please put your hands down. How many of you personally contacted the governor’s office to express your feelings?

I did. I simply called the telephone number listed on his website and voiced my opinion concerning a specific provision within the budget. A lady – not a machine – answered the phone. She wrote down what I had to say and she promised that she would pass on my thoughts to the Governor. It was as easy as pie.

Earlier I quoted David Barton of Wallbuilders. I want to draw from him once again:
In June 1989, I (David Barton) had opportunity to participate directly in the introduction of a significant federal legislative bill. The bill received support from a wide variety of Congressmen and Congresswomen (in fact, in the preceding month, the House of Representatives had voted two-to-one in favor of the material in the proposed bill). The bill was referred to the appropriate committee and subcommittee; however, those two chairmen refused to allow any hearings or discussion on the bill; they were both determined to let it die in committee.

Because of the widespread support already evident, and because it seemed inappropriate for only two individuals to block the progress of that bill, we asked several members of Congress how to get that bill released from the committee. They instructed us to locate individuals in those two men’s home districts who would be willing to write letters to the two requesting that the bill be released and that hearings be scheduled on it.

To determine how many letters would be needed, we queried several Congress-men and women, “How do you know when you have a ‘hot’ issue?” Their answer was startling: “If we get as many as fifty letters on a bill, it’s a very hot issue.” They further indicated that, in their opinion, twenty letters would be sufficient pressure to cause the two Congressmen to reverse their position on the bottled-up bill. Amazed, we asked: “How many letters do you usually receive on a bill?” They responded, “Five to ten is normal.”

The fact that five to ten letters is the norm on a bill is a compelling commentary on the inactivity of most of us. Each Congressperson represents at least 500,000 individuals, and as few as 20 letters can cause him or her to reverse his or her stand! This explains why philosophical minorities and anti-Christian groups are often more successful in reaching their goals in Congress: they are simply more active in generating individual contacts with members of Congress.

You can call, write, send an email. You can contact your local, state, or federals officials. Along this line, you can also write a letter to the editor. The point? Let your voice be heard. Stand up and be counted.

CONSIDER RUNNING FOR OFFICE
One does not have to look far in Scripture to see godly men and women in positions of leadership:

•  Joseph, in the book of Genesis, served as governor over Egypt.
• Moses led Israel.
• Then too, the Bible speaks of Deborah the Judge and Esther the Queen.
• Look at Kings David and Solomon.
• Daniel worked in government in several capacities under various rulers, some good and some very bad.

The Bible does not condemn these individuals for serving in government, rather in some instances, God actually anointed and ordered their service.

In like fashion, as I have done in the past, I again want to encourage you to…

• Run for city council,
• the county commission,
• a school board,
• or state or national office.

Remember these words from the wise Solomon, Proverbs 29:2 (New Living Translation), “When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.”

In Matthew 13:24-26 Jesus shares the parable of the wheat and the weeds. In the story we find a farmer who had a field of wheat. During the night, the enemy came and planted a bunch of weeds — thus contaminating the entire field. How was the enemy able to do this, you ask? The answer is found in Matthew 13:25 (New Living Translation), “But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.”

Notice, Jesus never faulted the enemy for doing what he did. The enemy was just doing what enemies do. John 10:10 warns that the “thief (enemy) comes to kill, steal, and destroy.” Rather, Jesus placed the fault on those who went to sleep.

Earlier in this message, I acknowledged the fact that this great nation of ours has some very serious problems. Let me be so bold as to say, an enemy has slipped in during the night and has sown some very ugly weeds in with our wheat. Weeds such as:

• Moral and spiritual decline
• Violence
• Pornography
• The disintegration of the home
• Corruption in government
• A faltering economy
• Crime
• Poverty
• War
• The health care crisis
• The federal debt
• Unemployment

What was the church doing while these weeds were being sown? Like the farmer in the Lord’s parable, I submit to you that many a church was fast asleep!  Saints. We need to wake up. We need to get involved in the process. Seriously, some of you would make excellent and honest officials. I want to urge you to run for office.

As you can see, the issues facing our nation are serious and most complex. Your ability to pray concerning these matters, as well as the guidance that the Holy Spirit would provide to you, is needed in all chambers of government.

As explained by William Penn: “Governments rather depend upon men than men upon governments. . . . Let men be good and the government cannot be bad. . . . Though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may lack good men . . . but good men will never lack good laws nor allow bad ones.”

PRAY
1 Timothy 2:1-3 (The Message) commands, “The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.”

This is God’s will. God wants us to pray for those who are in authority over us. These people affect every area of our lives. Therefore, it is for our own benefit that we pray regularly for our leaders at the local, state, and federal levels in each branch of government.

• Pray that our leaders might have wisdom.
• Pray that they might be fair and just.
• Pray that they might lead us in paths of righteousness.
• Pray that God might guide each official in the decision making process.
• Pray that if these individuals aren’t saved, the Holy Spirit would convict them and lead them to salvation.
• Pray that the Lord’s will “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
• Jeremiah 29:7 instructs us to pray for the “peace and prosperity” of our city. “Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
• Additionally, we need to pray faithfully that God will root the wicked from office and will raise up righteous leaders to replace them.

Prayer is the first key to effecting significant and lasting change. Therefore, before the summer is out, we will again devote a Sunday evening service to prayer for America. Watch the bulletin for more information. You will not want to miss this very important service.
I not only want you to pray for our leaders, I also want to encourage you to pray for our nation as a whole. America needs a spiritual rebirth. Can such a thing happen? Of course it can happen – if God’s people pray and believe. The familiar 2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The late Leonard Ravenhill in his powerful book Why Revival Tarries wrote: “There is enough of God’s power available to answer every prayer ever prayed in His will. One might estimate the weight of the world, tell the size of the celestial city, count the stars of heaven, measure the speed of lightning, and tell the time of the rising and the setting of the sun — but you cannot estimate prayer-power. Prayer is as vast as God because He is behind it. Prayer is as mighty as God because He has committed Himself to answer it.”

God bless America!